


take my hand

by MrGrumpyGills43



Series: Tumblr Prompts [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, and the other in the second, best way to angst tbh, both die in two separate ones, like one in the first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 07:31:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7523938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrGrumpyGills43/pseuds/MrGrumpyGills43
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a handful of klance prompts i got on tumblr</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. chapter one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> warnings for death
> 
> dont let keith out of ur sight lancey boy

The mission was a failure. Anyone can see that. Not only was Blue almost completely destroyed, but Keith was losing blood fast and going in and out of consciousness.

Lance was frantically trying to contact anyone through his comm, stopping as much of the blood flow he could. He cursed under his breath as he recieved radio silence in response. His attention returned to the red paladin.

Keith was looking like death was at his door. He was immensely paler than usual and blood poured out from multiple wounds. Lance swore up and down that Keith’s body had dropped a few degrees despite usually being so abnormally hot.

“Hey, Keith, can you hear me? Stay with me, we’ll get them to respond in no time,” Lance reassured, looking around for anything he could use. Blue was a mess, things were scattered and impossible to find. It took him too long to find the first aid kit. Precious ticks wasted to search.

Keith winced as Lance began applying the antiseptic-like stuff, weakly pushing his hands away. “Lance, don’t… don’t waste that on me.” He smiled sadly, eyes halfway closed. “It’s not going to… do anything.”

The blue paladin frantically shook his head, refusing to give up. “You’re gonna make it, just stay awake. Keep talking to me, Keith. Like what’s your favorite food?”

“Listen to me,” Keith said firmly, grabbing Lance’s face to position it above his own. “You have a… a chance to make it. I’m dead where I lay. Besides,” his smile relaxed some. “You can always find a replacement.”

Hot tears spilled down Lance’s face, landing on Keith with quiet splashes. “I can’t lose you, Keith. I can’t let you die.”

Keith leaned forward as much as he could, pulling Lance down the rest of the way. He connected their lips in a weak kiss. It wasn’t long before he became still and his hands dropped from Lance’s face.

Lance sobbed and clutched at Keith, ignoring Allura’s shouting from his comm. Keith was gone, lifeless. And Lance was the reason he was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that its short ;;
> 
> yell at me about voltron on tumblr at kermeme


	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> keith is mad at lance for sacrificing himself so much. seriously, who does that ?

“I never meant to fall in love with you!” Keith exclaimed, ending whatever argument Lance was going to reply with. His shoulders shook from the pressure of admitting such a thing. His gaze dropped to the floor and he started again. “I never wanted to fall in love, especially with someone as dangerous as you.”

Lance’s breath caught in his throat, his hand retracted from where it was reaching out to Keith. “What… what do you mean dangerous? I’m not that bad. Am I?”

The dry laugh that escaped Keith surprised the both of them. “Are you serious? In every mission we do, you barge in guns blazing no matter how high the danger. It’s exhausting. You have to be babysat to make sure that you don’t get yourself killed.” He pushed past Lance, heading out of the kitchen. “I deserve someone better than you.”

The blue paladin didn’t bother trying to go after Keith, his heart practically being destroyed by a couple of sentences. Sure him and Keith fought a lot, but it never reached this kind of hurt. He grasped his chest and sunk to his knees. Nothing had ever hurt as much as this did.

–

They hardly spoke to each other after that. Lance being too hurt and Keith being too stubborn. They didn’t have a chance to reconcile before the castle was being attacked by a Galra ship.

Everyone was caught off guard. It seemed as if the Galra had gotten ahold of Pidge’s invisibility cloak. They hadn’t even seen the enemy until they were onboard.

Keith and Lance had somehow ended up together, separated from the rest of the paladins. Neither of them were happy about the situation.

Lance kept giving Keith quick looks as they searched for Galra. Some were clear images of hurt and betrayal, others following the lines of anger. None of them slipped past Keith.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he hissed, peering around the corner to check for any signs of the purple aliens.

The blue paladin flinched back, his eyes finding the floor. “It’s not my fault that you decided to suddenly become a dick. I don’t… I still don’t fully understand so I’m sorry that I’m still recovering.”

Keith rolled his eyes, jogging in the direction he assumed the Galra were at. “Yeah it was an all at once change, not like it had been brewing for months and months.”

“I’m tired of you acting like I was a pain in your ass this entire time. We were good. We were happy. At least, I thought we were. I want to know what’s changed,” Lance huffed, following behind the red paladin. It was his fault, he knew that much. Everything tended to be his fault.

Keith stopped, whirling around to face Lance. “You were a pain in the ass. I only started making out with you to see if I could get rid of the attraction. But it didn’t work. You asked me out and I couldn’t say no,” he admitted brashly, jabbing an accusative finger into Lance’s chest. “You continued to make things worse with your heroics and always jumping in front of the danger. You don’t realize that people truly care about you. It hurt me to see you nearly dead time and time again.”

Lance took the lecture with a wavering frown. His eyes had trailed behind Keith sometime during the rant, spotting a group of Galra nearing them. Without even thinking about it, he pushed Keith to the side and began firing. He managed to take down two (named Bella and Mac) before being hit too many times. He fell to his knees, Keith taking over from there.

Keith finished off the rest of the Galra with quick precision, making sure that none of them could fire at Lance again. Once he finished, he returned to Lance’s side, stomach doing flips at the growing pool of blood beneath the boy. His concern overclouded his anger, his hands carefully checking Lance’s wounds. “You idiot. You fucking idiot.”

The blue paladin shook beneath him, coughing out drops of blood. “S'fine, Keith. You don’t have to worry anymore.” He smiled, blood coating his teeth.

“Don’t say that. Stay with me, damnit!” Keith shouted, using his hands to stop the biggest areas of blood flow. “We just have to get you to a healing pod. You’ll be fine.”

A hand found its way to Keith’s cheek, wiping away silent tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to die, but your life comes before mine,” he whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to Keith’s forehead. “I love you so much.”

Keith’s sobs became louder, his head shaking in denial. “You’re not dying on me, Lance.” He wrapped his arm around the other, slowly dragging him to his feet. “You’re going to get to the healing pod. You’ll be okay.”

The walk to the infirmary was tedious. Lance was dependent on Keith for walking, making any encounters with Galra especially troublesome. It took them too long to get to the healing pods and for Keith to get Lance in.

The remaining Galra were easy to get rid of, the rest of the paladins eventually making their way to the infirmary to heal themselves also. They weren’t shocked to hear of Lance’s stunt, but they were extremely worried. His vitals were still too low and it wasn’t looking good.

The results came the next day, when Lance fell out of the pod into Keith’s arms. His body was deathly cold, and Keith couldn’t find a pulse. His screams reverberated throughout the castle, sending everyone into a rush to find him.

Lance had gotten into the pod too late. He was gone. For good. No more risky moves. No more cheesy jokes. No more horrible flirting.

And Keith couldn’t help but blame himself. He would’ve been paying attention had he not been yelling. His love was dead and he was the only one he to blame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry again,,,,
> 
> scream about voltron with me on tumblr at kermeme


	3. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lance doesnt feel good about himself

It had been a long, long day. Everyone was off doing their own thing, left alone with their own thoughts.

Lance was sitting on the observation deck as he tended to do when left alone. For once his thoughts weren’t aimed at his family, but instead about him. His mistakes, how much he failed in comparison to the others. He was only good for distractions.

He had been up there for hours it seemed like before another joined him. It wasn’t unusual for someone to finally find him. Most of the time it was Keith who stumbled upon him. This time was no different.

With his knees pulled up to his chest, Lance barely gave Keith a second glance as he sat down next to him. “Hey,” Keith murmured softly, putting his arm out behind himself to relax.

Lance’s only acknowledgement to Keith was a small nod. It was so far from his normal response that Keith was shocked into silence. Even when thinking about his family Lance could manage more cheerful feedback than a simple shake of the head.

The silence that settled between them was tense. Keith was trying to think of a way to get the blue paladin to open up to him. He wasn’t the best with feelings, but he was of the mindset that he did okay with Lance. At least, Lance was always happier when they finished talking.

He opened his mouth to force something out when Lance finally spoke up. “I hate you,” he paused, shocking Keith with the simple three words. “but I think I hate myself more.”

Keith could almost feel his heart physically break. If the way Lance had decided to start out the declaration didn’t hurt enough, he had to finish it with a phrase no on wanted to hear. His gaze fell to the empty spot between them and his eyebrows furrowed. “Why… why do you hate yourself?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m useless. I can’t do anything right other than get hurt or distract the enemy. I’m just,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. He turned his face away, a hand covering the rest of it from view. “I know I’m not the best or even second best. I’m the worst out of the entire team. The easiest to replace.”

Anger bloomed in Keith’s chest. He couldn’t understand why Lance thought that. He forcefully turned Lance’s head back to him, ignoring the yelp of pain. “Listen to me. You are not easy to replace. You want to know how long Blue was there waiting for someone she thought would be a good paladin? Ten thousand years. The lions don’t pick randomly. You were picked for a reason, Lance.”

The blue paladin laughed dryly, wrenching his face out of Keith’s grip. “Blue is the most laid back of all the lions. The only reason she didn’t choose you is because she thought you were better for Red. Which you are.” His voice grew wet, tears slowly streaming down his face. He didn’t seem to notice, too busy trying to prove his point.

Lance fell to the ground as Keith tackled him, weakly struggled against him. His sobs grew louder and his chest shook. “Why do you care? I told you I, I hated you, why do you care what I think,” Lance forced out. He brought his hands up to cover his face. “I’m not wor-worth your time.”

Keith didn’t respond, instead staring down at the shaking boy beneath him. He was in shock. How was he supposed to handle this type of situation? His anger slowly fizzled until he was left with a crushing weight. One he identified as sorrow. Lance, the ever-jubilant and confident paladin, hated himself. He overcompensated to make it seem otherwise, but Keith had gotten to see the real Lance.

He leaned down, moving Lance’s hands out of his face. He hesitated before placing a kiss on Lance’s temple. “You are a talented, amazing guy.” He moved to the other temple, doing the same. “You are good at coming up with plans in the spur of the moment.” He kissed the tip of Lance’s nose next. “You care about everyone, deeply, and truly.” Under Lance’s left eye. “Blue picked you because of how brave you are and how selfless.” Under his right eye. “You can fight and fly and kick ass.” On his chin. “You can hold your own against me for longer than anyone but Shiro.” Finally, a gentle kiss on the lips. “You are not worthless.”

Lance was frozen. He hiccuped as he took it all in. Then Keith was forced down in a fierce hug, completely laying on top of Lance. “Thank you,” the blue paladin whispered, his eyes squeezed tightly closed.

They didn’t break from the embrace until Shiro came in looking for the duo. They didn’t give any excuses and Shiro just gave a knowing smile.

It soon became a thing for them to go on the observation deck and Keith to point out the good things about Lance. The other paladins knew not to bother them. It was just something for Lance and Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you like it :3c
> 
> yell at me about voltron on tumblr at kermeme


	4. chapter four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lance and keith after sex when they're just friends with benefits

It was right after they had finished having sex for the nth time, Keith all but snuggled up to Lance. Their cheeks were flushed and their lips were swollen. Both had extremely different thoughts on the matter.

With his hand in Keith’s hair, Lance was wishing that this moment would never end. He wasn’t naïve enough to think that they could, but he _hoped_  and _prayed_  that they could.

With his head on Lance’s chest, Keith couldn’t help but think of all the regrets he was going to have later. Thoughts of how he shouldn’t be doing this and it was just flat out _wrong_. Not because of the way he felt during or after, but who he was doing it with.

Lance was the first to break the silence that had settled, his words coming out in a rush. “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could just… stay here? Not forever just, for a while.”

Keith sat up immediately, his already pink face turning a few shades darker. “You know _damn well_ why things are the way they are, Lance. We can’t- _aren’t_ \- going to change that just because you started developing feelings halfway through it.”

A sharp intake of breath escaped Lance as he flinched back, his heart sinking to the bottom of his chest. His hand dropped from where it was still tangled in Keith’s hair and fell to hide his face from view. He wore his bottom lip between his teeth, trying to recover quickly. 

The red paladin sighed, looking away from the boy beneath him. “I just meant-”

“Yeah, I know what you meant. We’re friends with benefits. Nothing more,” Lance interrupted, beginning to pull himself away from Keith and his bed. “It’s not like you wanted to do this anyway. You said yourself when we first kissed that you wished we had never done it.” He began picking up his clothes and getting dressed, anger and hurt brimming inside him. 

Keith picked at his blanket, not fully comprehending why Lance was so angry with him. They had set out rules in the beginning. No getting too close with one another. They were just fuck buddies, nothing more. “If you want something more than just sex, why don’t you try going out with Hunk or Shiro,” he suggested, watching Lance pause at the door.

Lance turned his head slowly, shocking Keith with the amount of _pure sadness_ that was on his face. “I’m not in love with Shiro or Hunk. I’m in love with you, and I’m damn sorry I am.” He left the room before Keith could get another word in.

For the first time since they began doing this, Keith felt cold. Lonely. He cocooned himself inside his blanket, trying to regain anything. He never realized how much words could hurt until now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really like this one tbh
> 
> yell at me about voltron on tumblr at kermeme


	5. chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> keith cant help but think about the probability of one of them dying

They were perched on Lance’s bed, talking about everything that happened to catch their attention. For Keith, it was stories of one of his many foster homes, only the good stories at least. For Lance, it was about the ocean, and the joy of surfing whenever he wasn’t helping out his family.

Keith’s head was in Lance’s lap, the blue paladin’s fingers gently working through the mullet he claimed to hate. His gaze had landed on the wall, listening intently as Lance rambled on about a time he was caught by a massive wave. 

It was… nice to be in a situation as calming as this. There was no underlying threat of danger, no one outside the door waiting to barge in. It was a sweet moment, but Keith couldn’t help but let his mind wander to the eventual ending of the battle they were fighting. He doubted that all of them would make it out alive. There was always going to be a casualty somewhere.

“… so here I was, 20 feet below the surface and sinking fast, and then suddenly, something is pushing me back up. I manage to get back up and get some air and I look down to see my savior, and it’s a dolphin!” Lance narrated, his free hand moving along in explanation. He quieted down as he finished his story, noticing that Keith wasn’t really paying attention. “What’s on your mind, mi amor?”

Keith didn’t reply instantly, instead thinking about the best way to voice his concerns. He cleared his throat before he spoke, eyes dropping even lower from the spot on the wall. “I was thinking about the final battle, and how… how not all of us will make it,” he whispered the last part, attempting to bury his head in Lance’s leg.

The hand in Keith’s hair stilled. Lance obviously wasn’t expecting that kind of blunt statement, no matter how much Keith tried to soften it. “What are you talking about? Of course all of us will make it. We’ll be injured, yeah, but we’ll end up alive.”

The red paladin sat up, turning to stare sadly at the still boy. “Lance, I’m being realistic. We’ve been in more deadly situations than I can count. I just,” he took one of Lance’s hands in his own, tracing over the knuckles. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Lance’s sight hardened, and he jerked his hand away from Keith’s. “So you’re just worried about me doing something stupid and getting killed, right? You think that I don’t take battles seriously.”

“No, that’s not what I meant I-”

“That’s _exactly_   what you meant. I’m the one who gets injured the most out of all of us. Hell, Pidge and Hunk haven’t even flown a ship before they were forced to become paladins, and I’m still worse than them. I just thought that you would have a different view than me, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Lance-”

“Get out and don’t come back.” The words were harsh, and Lance’s eyes were dark with fury. It was unlike the usually jovial boy. It put Keith into a state of shock.

Keith got up shakily, giving Lance many glances as he began to leave the room. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get Lance to look back at him.

–

Keith was panicking. Lance wasn’t responding to anyone, and he had crashed onto a Galra overrun planet. Everyone was worried, but none more so than the red paladin. They hadn’t spoken since their fight, but no one was going to try and get in between it. Whatever had happened they needed to fix on their own.

But then they received a false distress signal from the planet. And even though they knew it was dangerous to respond to one on a planet controlled by Galra, they did anyway. Then Lance’s lion was severely attacked and he crashed.

Keith was following the general direction of the crash when he finally came across the damaged lion. The sound of fighting pierced his hearing, and he shot his bayard out.

There were Galran droids scattered all around Blue. Some were down, taken down by Lance who was perched at the entrance to his lion. He was injured, blood pouring out of a wound from his gut. He was slowing down though, his movements becoming stiff.

“I found Lance. He’s surrounded. Can any of you track me down to help?” Keith reported, tallying the number of remaining droids. There weren’t that many left, but Lance couldn’t take many more hits. Without waiting for a reply he busted into the scene, already attacking several droids as he attempted to get to Lance. 

He ignored any voices coming in from his comm, instead putting all his attention to saving Lance. He took down the last few remaining Galran droids before landing by Lance’s side. He dragged the other boy inside, ignoring the shouts of pain he was releasing. 

It wasn’t until they were both safely inside before Keith began examining Lance’s wound. His fingers ghosted over the bloody mess, making the blue paladin hiss in pain. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Keith muttered, looking around before grabbing a rag. He lightly pressed it to Lance’s stomach, brushing back the strands of hair sticking to Lance’s face.

Lance let out a half-hearted chuckle, coughing up some blood also. He gave a weak smile and brought his hand up to Keith’s helmet, wiping away stray tears. “Guess you were right, huh? I’m the one most likely to die.”

Keith threw his helmet to the side, giving Lance more access to his face. “You’re gonna make it, just stay awake. Tell me a story. Just don’t close your eyes.”

“Did I ever tell you about the first time I fell in love? It was hard for me to accept at first,” Lance’s breath was coming outs in rasps. “I swear it was love at first sight. I couldn’t handle how much I wanted to be with him. Although, there was a lot of arguing at first. And fighting. He had these really… beautiful cobalt eyes. And his hair, don’t… don’t get me started on his hair.” He began coughing, blood droplets landing on his armor.

Tears were spilling out of both of their eyes now, Keith openly sobbing. “I love you too, Lance. Just s… stay with me.”

Lance’s eyes were drooping closed and his hand fell from Keith’s face. “I’m sorry you were right…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rip everyone im dead
> 
> yell at me about voltron at kermeme on tumblr


End file.
